A New Mexico man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on dozens of organizations and for firearms-related charges.

John Kelsey Gammell, 55, used several so-called booter services to launch cyberattacks, including VDoS, CStress, Inboot, Booter.xyz, and IPStresser. His targets included former employers, business competitors, companies that refused to hire him, colleges, law enforcement agencies, courts, banks, and telecoms firms.

Gammell took measures to avoid exposing his real identity online, including through the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for the DDoS attacks and VPNs. However, a couple of taunting emails he sent to his victims during the DDoS attacks – asking if they had any IT issues he could help with – were sent from Gmail and Yahoo addresses that had been accessed from his home IP address.

The man initially rejected a plea deal and his attorney sought the dismissal of the case, but in January he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit intentional damage to a protected computer and two counts of being a felon-in-possession of a firearm. Gammell, a convicted felon, admitted having numerous firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

In addition to the 180-month prison sentence, Gammell will have to pay restitution to victims of his DDoS attacks, but that amount will be determined at a later date.